“You don’t need to explain, Glitter.” He glanced at his watch. “Come on. We should go and find you that cab.”

Chapter Six

James

James Carter considered the woman in front of him as she gathered up her purse and what appeared to be a sketchbook and some pencils. Her long dark hair that felt like silk was ruffled from where he’d just fed his fingers through it. Her pretty top was dishevelled and even in the dim light he could tell her cheeks were hot and flushed.

Damn, she was hot. He’d been watching her from afar and waiting for the perfect moment to approach. Biding his time until he was in the right mind set—head not bogged down with work—to think about asking a beautiful woman out to dinner. And now he’d gone and blown it. Ruined it all. Why did he have to let lust takeover? Had he no self-control? He was a grown man, for crying out loud.

She stooped and picked up a piece of material.

And wow, the woman could kiss—all soft sweetness laced with the taste of want.

And she had wanted it. He knew she had. The way she’d curled her legs around his, explored the flesh on his back, swept her tongue into his mouth. That had been a woman who’d wanted a man, he knew that much about her.

So what the hell had happened?

Had he come on too strong?

No, he couldn’t imagine that for a moment. Megan was the sort of woman who oozed sex appeal with every step, every smile and every word she said. But something had stopped her. Something had made her shut down on him.

“Let’s go,” she said, opening the door.

James grabbed his jacket and moved past the woman who’d stolen his dreams of late.

Once out on the cobbled back street, Megan strode ahead of him. He glanced at the shadows—it wasn’t the best place for a woman to walk on her own and he didn’t like to think that she did it regularly. And the sound of her heels clicking on the damp stones, they were just an advert to her presence, a flashing beacon that shouted ‘vulnerable woman, come and get me’.

And yes, she was vulnerable, not just physically but emotionally too. He watched her hair swishing as she walked, tiny drips of mist making it sparkle. He could see that delicate side of her now, the slice of pain that had gone through her eyes when she’d told him to stop, the stoic way she’d smiled when she’d spoken of her delight at friend’s engagement, even though it had clearly struck a painful chord in her.

What happened to her?